The use of quizzes in print media is nothing new but online quizzes are the hottest viral type content today. But why do these quizzes work? Here are a few factors that contribute towards the massive success –

Quizzes are like mirrors, it’s hard to see one and not take it

Quizzes are small and easily consumable pieces of content, that are about helping the users discover something new about their personality or knowledge. A quiz takes a couple of minutes to play and in return offers excitement, laughter and joy.

Social media gives us a chance to say and be heard. Quizzes can add flavor to the conversation by picking on trending topics or casual elements from a user’s lifestyle. Admit it, it is often fun to know if your cat secretly wants to eat you, or what gift should you give to your partner on Christmas.

According to a study conducted by social marketing platform provider Wildfire, quizzes have the highest click-to-conversionrate among earned media. On Facebook, Wildfire found that 82% of users that click on a news feed post shared by a friend will go on to take that quiz themselves.

Quizzes begin conversations

Quizzes label and categorize people. At times these categorizations are just for fun or superficial reasons. However, quizzes often lump us into categories that are meant to be “an indication of our true self”. Whether a user agrees or not that “Batman is his superhero companion”, he is likely to share it with his friends.

This tendency to express an opinion over the outcome of the quiz, drives results for brands. It can bring insane traffic to a facebook page, building brand’s visibility.

Buzzfeed’s “What career should you actually have?” garnered over 2 Million total shares!

Quizzes are like a brand’s invisible salesman

Our brains don’t handle the liberty of choice very well, often getting paralyzed when faced with a decision among many options. The role of the Car salesman was to help consumers overcome this decision paralysis.

In the digital world, content plays the role of a friendly salesman and a expert of your product. Quizzes often turn out to be the best salesmen, because they’re interactive. They let your users steer the conversation in a direction they want. At every step, your invisible salesman breaks down the complex “choice problem” into simple and fun questions. Much like a elegant salesman, a quiz can subtly present a very personalized offer at the end of conversation. A user is much more likely to buy from a salesman who has been helpful, fun and sweet all along the way. Static forms of content, like blogs or e-books, are not enough to beat a quiz’s appeal.

According to Boombox, this simple quiz by Zenni Optical, which matches users with their perfect glass frames, has been taken over 415,000 times, generating over 350,000 lead impressions (and driving sales of more than $1 million since figures were last recorded in early 2015).